The top half of the infographic is presented as two pie charts, one for Yes, and one for No. They provide an overall summary of the response data from the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey at the national level. The survey question asked “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?” Of the eligible Australians who expressed a view on this question, 61.6% responded Yes and 38.4% responded No. The bottom half of the infographic is a horizontal bar graph which presents the response data at the state and territory level. New South Wales had 2,374,362 eligible electors who expressed a view (57.8%) respond Yes and 1,736,838 (42.2%) respond No. Victoria had 2,145,629 eligible electors who expressed a view (64.9%) respond Yes and 1,161,098 (35.1%) respond No. Queensland had 1,487,060 eligible electors who expressed a view (60.7%) respond Yes and 961,015 (39.3%) respond No. South Australia had 592,528 eligible electors who expressed a view (62.5%) respond Yes and 356,247 (37.5%) respond No. Western Australia had 801,575 eligible electors who expressed a view (63.7%) respond Yes and 455,924 (36.3%) respond No. Tasmania had 191,948 eligible electors who expressed a view (63.6%) respond Yes and 109,655 (36.4%) respond No. Northern Territory had 48,686 eligible electors who expressed a view (60.6%) respond Yes and 31,690 (39.4%) respond No. Australian Capital Territory had 175,459 eligible electors who expressed a view (74.0%) respond Yes and 61,520 (26.0%) respond No.

State/Territory

Yes

No

Total

no.

%

no.

%

no.

%

New South Wales

2,374,362

57.8

1,736,838

42.2

4,111,200

100

Victoria

2,145,629

64.9

1,161,098

35.1

3,306,727

100

Queensland

1,487,060

60.7

961,015

39.3

2,448,075

100

South Australia

592,528

62.5

356,247

37.5

948,775

100

Western Australia

801,575

63.7

455,924

36.3

1,257,499

100

Tasmania

191,948

63.6

109,655

36.4

301,603

100

Northern Territory(a)

48,686

60.6

31,690

39.4

80,376

100

Australian Capital Territory(b)

175,459

74.0

61,520

26.0

236,979

100

Australia (Total)

7,817,247

61.6

4,873,987

38.4

12,691,234

100

(a) Includes Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (within the Division of Lingiari).

(b) Includes Jervis Bay (within the Division of Fenner) and Norfolk Island (within the Division of Canberra).

Skopje sends foreign minister to Athens for talks to end long-standing row between neighbouring states over Macedonia name

Macedonia’s prime minister, Zoran Zaev, on his first official trip to Brussels this week. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters

Macedonia is poised to dispatch its foreign minister to Greece as speculation mounts that the two countries are moving towards settlement of the name dispute that has kept them at loggerheads for the past 27 years.

Signalling that a compromise is in the offing, Zoran Zaev, the Balkan state’s new Social Democrat leader, used his first official trip to Brussels on Monday to announce that a solution was possible. “I know that if we have friendly relations and a good approach then a solution is feasible,” he told reporters before talks between Macedonia’s foreign minister, Nikola Dimitrov, and his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, in Athens on Wednesday.

Zaev, whose investiture two weeks ago followed prolonged political turmoil in the former Yugoslav republic, said he wanted the small but strategic nation to join NATO and the EU “in the shortest possible time”. Macedonia, he suggested, could participate in both under the provisional name it currently uses at the UN – FYROM or the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. “We will try all possible measures to move Macedonia to membership,” said the pro-European prime minister standing alongside NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg.

The quest comes amid accusations of Russian interference across the Balkan region. The Macedonian government claims the meddling has made membership more vital. Stoltenberg underscored that position, saying NATO’s mission was to support all aspiring countries. “We want to see your country as part of a stable, democratic and prosperous region,” he said.

The long-running name row has been the single biggest impediment to Macedonia’s integration with the west. Greece, which vetoed the country joining NATO in 2008, has argued vehemently that its northern neighbour’s nomenclature conceals territorial ambitions over the eponymous Greek province that lies directly to the republic’s south. In nearly three decades of often bitter public exchanges, Athens has frequently accused the country of indulging in cultural theft, saying the predominantly Slavic state has deliberately appropriated symbols and heroic personalities from ancient Greek history to buttress its claim to the name.

But Zaev, who formed a government in coalition with parties representing the nation’s large ethnic Albanian minority, has taken a much more conciliatory approach. Last week the centre-left politician criticised his right-wing predecessor, Nikola Grueski, accusing him of provocations during the decade he held office by pushing ahead with a controversial statue and monument-building campaign that named a slew of public edifices after Alexander the Great.

In a television interview the new prime minister said the politics of antagonising Athens would be terminated immediately. “I can only say that the era of monuments, renaming of highways, airports, sports halls and stadiums with historical names ends,” said the leader whose lividly scarred forehead is testimony to the civil unrest that has gripped the mini-state. “We shall generate a politics of joint European future.” Zaev was injured when, in an orgy of violence, a pro-Grueski mob stormed parliament in April.

Any potential name change would be put to public plebiscite for approval. Mooted name changes have included adding geographic qualifiers such as “Upper/Горниот”, “New/Ново” or “Northern/Северно” Macedonia.

In what was seen by Athens as a major compromise, Greece announced in 2007 that it would give its consent to a composite name in which the word Macedonia could feature. At the time the compromise was supported by Panos Kammenos, the leader of the small nationalist Independent Greeks party currently in power with prime minister Alexis Tsipras’s leftist Syriza party.

Since then, emotions have abated as a sense of realpolitik in both countries has taken root. While Zaev believes membership of Euro-Atlantic bodies will help stabilise his ethnically fractious nation, debt-stricken Greece also sees a solution as bolstering its crisis-wracked economy in the Balkan peninsula.

“It is very important that Greece settles this dispute if it is to play an important role in the Balkans,” said Dimitris Keridis, professor of political science at Athens’s Panteion University. “Our neighbour is suffering from very deep internal divisions with the new government believing that the only way to stabilise it is to make the country part of the Euro-Atlantic architecture,” he told the Guardian. “Clearly it is willing to reach a compromise with Greece to achieve this, a compromise that after years of being able to hide behind Grueski’s intransigence is going to put Greek diplomacy on the spot.”

Another Donald Trump foreign visit and another awkward handshake – however it was Donald Trump’s exchange with French First Lady Brigitte Macron which has got the world talking.

In a video on the French presidential Facebook account, Mr Trump and Ms Macron extend their hands to one another, fumbling to make contact, before they embrace for a traditional kiss on each cheek…..then they then ungracefully hold hands, for what seemed to be an inordinately long time.

But it was a later comment from Donald Trump at the high-level meeting in Paris, that almost overshadowing what appeared to be early signs of Mr Trump again rethinking his attitude to the Paris Accord.

As Mr Trump, Mr Macron and their wives toured the museums at Les Invalides, the US President turned to the French First Lady and said: “You’re in such good shape.”

He repeated the observation to the French president before turning back to the French first lady, and remarking: “Beautiful.”

Watch CNN’s report of the greeting

Ms Macron was her husband’s former high school teacher and their relationship has drawn international attention because of their age difference – Ms Macron is 64, while her husband is 39.

Does age really matter in good relationship?

The comments have been denounced in some circles as sexist, noting that the Macrons’ age difference is similar to that of Donald and Melania Trump.

The pair has been seen as having a difficult chemistry. Photo: AAP

Trump hints at change of heart on Paris Accord

More substantively, Mr Trump appeared to be holding the door open to a reversal of his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, but did not say what he would need in return to persuade him to do so.

Mr Trump, who has made few friends in Europe with his rejection of the 2015 Paris agreement and his “America First” trade stance, met Mr Macron in Paris on Thursday as both leaders sought common ground to reset an awkward relationship.

“Something could happen with respect to the Paris accords, let’s see what happens,” Mr Trump told a news conference. “If it happens, that will be wonderful, and if it doesn’t, that’ll be OK too.”

Mr Trump has said the Paris accord is soft on leading polluters like China and India, putting US industry at risk.

“There is no sudden and unexpected change today, otherwise we would have announced it, but there is the shared intention to continue discussing these issues,” the French president added.

Mr Trump and Mr Macron’s relationship got off to a bumpy start, but both have an incentive to improve relations – Mr Macron hopes to elevate France’s role in global affairs, and Mr Trump, seemingly isolated among world leaders, needs a friend overseas.

The nature of their greeting was so highly anticipated because of the long, white-knuckled handshake between the two leaders in Brussels in May in which Mr Macron held on firmly and appeared to try and pull Mr Trump’s towards him.

“My handshake with him, it’s not innocent,” Mr Macron said some days later. “It’s not the alpha and the omega of politics, but a moment of truth.”

A day after that, Mr Macron performed a body swerve away from Mr Trump as he approached a group of leaders, and instead picked out German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Mr Trump’s handshakes have become closely observed moments in his diplomatic interactions. When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the White House early this year, their handshake lasted for an uncomfortable 20 seconds, with Mr Abe appearing to try and break off several times.

And during his March meeting with Ms Merkel, Mr Trump appeared to refuse to shake her hand despite the pleas of media onlookers.

US President Donald Trump has gone back on his plans to create a cyber-security alliance with Russia, after the proposal was met with severe condemnation by several Republican senators.

Mr Trump raised eyebrows when he initially said on Twitter that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed “forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit” to tackle issues like election hacking and “many other negative things”.

Perhaps his suggestion didn’t get the traction he had hoped for, because only hours later, President Trump said it would not happen.

Mr Trump’s initial claim came after he met with the Russian leader at the G20 Summit in Hamburg.

Many high-profile Republican Senators were dumbfounded by the idea, questioning why the United States would want to work with Russia given Moscow’s alleged meddling in last year’s US election.

“It’s not the dumbest idea I have ever heard, but it’s pretty close,”Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told NBC’s Meet the Press.

Senator Marco Rubio also ridiculed the proposal, tweeting: “Partnering with Putin on a ‘Cyber Security Unit’ is akin to partnering with Assad on a Chemical Weapons Unit.”

“While reality & pragmatism requires that we engage Vladimir Putin, he will never be a trusted ally or a reliable constructive partner.”

“We have no quarrel with Russia or the Russian people. Problem is with Putin & his oppression, war crimes & interference in our elections.”

And while outspoken Senator John McCain acknowledged Mr Trump’s desire to move forward with Russia, he said “there has to be a price to pay” for the nation’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election.

The Trump backflip comes a day after he was the subject of a scathing review from Australian journalist Chris Uhlmann, that quickly went viral, and in the same weekend the president’s son was accused of meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the 2016 election campaign.

According to The New York Times, Donald Trump Jr was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

It is unclear whether Ms Veselnitskaya produced the promised information about Ms Clinton, but it was likely she would have done so, according to the NYT’s sources.

Trump’s ridicule continues

President Trump has also been criticised for the release of a bizarre video, which recaps his experience of the G20 summit.

Mr Trump tweeted a two-minute video on Sunday titled, “Make America Great Again”, which featured pictures of himself attending the G20 Summit set to a ‘Make America Great Again’ soundtrack.

Mr Trump raised eyebrows when he initially said on Twitter that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed “forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit” to tackle issues like election hacking and “many other negative things”.

Perhaps his suggestion didn’t get the traction he had hoped for, because only hours later, President Trump said it would not happen.

Mr Trump’s initial claim came after he met with the Russian leader at the G20 Summit in Hamburg.

Many high-profile Republican Senators were dumbfounded by the idea, questioning why the United States would want to work with Russia given Moscow’s alleged meddling in last year’s US election.

“It’s not the dumbest idea I have ever heard, but it’s pretty close,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told NBC’s Meet the Press.

Senator Marco Rubio also ridiculed the proposal, tweeting: “Partnering with Putin on a ‘Cyber Security Unit’ is akin to partnering with Assad on a “Chemical Weapons Unit.”

“While reality & pragmatism requires that we engage Vladimir Putin, he will never be a trusted ally or a reliable constructive partner.

“We have no quarrel with Russia or the Russian people. Problem is with Putin & his oppression, war crimes & interference in our elections.”

And while outspoken Senator John McCain acknowledged Mr Trump’s desire to move forward with Russia, he said “there has to be a price to pay” for the nation’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election.

The Trump backflip comes a day after he was the subject of a scathing review from Australian journalist Chris Uhlmann, that quickly went viral, and in the same weekend the president’s son was accused of meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the 2016 election campaign.

According to The New York Times, Donald Trump Jr was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

It is unclear whether Ms Veselnitskaya produced the promised information about Ms Clinton, but it was likely she would have done so, according to the NYT’s sources.

Trump’s ridicule continues

President Trump has also been criticised for the release of a bizarre video, which recaps his experience of the G20 summit.

Mr Trump tweeted a two-minute video on Sunday titled, “Make America Great Again”, which featured pictures of himself attending the G20 Summit set to a ‘Make America Great Again’ soundtrack.

Australian journalist Chris Uhlmann’s brutal dismissal of US President Donald Trump as having “pressed fast forward on the decline of the United States as a global leader” has attracted tens of thousands of hits worldwide.

In a scathing piece-to-camera, the ABC’s political editor said Mr Trump struck an “uneasy, lonely, awkward” figure at the G20 global summit, where he showed “no desire and no capacity” to lead the world.

The US President merely “craves power as it burnishes his celebrity”, Mr Uhlmann said.

In his observations from Germany, the Australian journalist said there was the “strong sense” that some world leaders were “trying to find the best way to work around” Mr Trump.

“He managed to isolate his nation, to confuse and alienate his allies and to diminish America – he will cede that power to China and Russia.

“Some will cheer the decline of America. But I think we’ll miss it when it’s gone.

“And that’s the biggest threat to the values of the West which he claims to hold so dear.”

Mr Uhlmann went on to differentiate between Mr Trump’s more polished, scripted speeches and his “real” off-the-cuff remarks.

“There’s a tendency among some hopeful souls to confuse the speeches written for Trump with the thoughts of the man himself,” he said.

“But it’s the unscripted Trump that’s real: a man who barks out vile in a 140 characters, who wastes his precious days as President at war with western institutions like the judiciary, independent agencies and the free press.”

It was not long before the video footage spread worldwide, with US media reacting strongly to Mr Uhlmann’s assessment.

Despite the video’s brutal analysis, which was likely to have reached the White House, Mr Trump took to Twitter to assert the G20 summit had been a “wonderful success”.

US President Donald Trump has stunned the world by allowing paying guests at his Florida resort to listen in on high-level foreign policy discussions – and even take photos with the soldier who carries the nuclear launch codes.

This puts a whole new slant on “open government!”

In Mr Trump’s most recent visit to his Florida country club Mar-a-Lago, a dinner with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe soon morphed into a public display of typically top-secret presidential activity when news came of North Korea’s missile test launch

.

Rather than being ushered away to discuss the matter in private, Mr Trump and his top aides remained at their tables, referring to documents and making phone calls in clear view of their fellow diners.

“Is he a president or a businessman? He cant be both! He needs to decide – and soon!”

‘Publicity stunt’

Mr Trump’s decision to remain in a public setting as the news unfolded has Australian political commentators “mind-boggled”.

Melbourne University US politics lecturer George Rennie said the President left Mr Abe in an awkward position.

Mr Rennie said that under normal circumstances, senior advisers would whisper in the President’s ear and he and his company would be immediately whisked away to a secure setting to discuss the matter privately. This would encourage carefully-considered deliberations before a message was conveyed to citizens.

The venue of Mr Trump and Mr Abe’s meeting also proved problematic, he added.

“I can ripple no comparison where computer screens could be seen or speech could be overheard by people who don’t have security clearance. As far as I’m concerned this behaviour is unprecedented,” Mr Rennie told The New Daily.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in Japan and I’d imagine Abe would have been surprised by Trump’s reaction, but wanted to respect his host. North Korea has got to be the No.1 concern to the Japanese and I’d imagine Abe would not have been happy about the world seeing his facial expressions, body language and overhearing words exchanged in reaction to that news before he had time to deliberate.

“For Abe to walk out would have been a slight to the President.”

But Mr Rennie could see “no valid justification” for Mr Trump’s decision to stay.

A club guest dining at a nearby table, Richard DeAgazio, documented the scene, publishing photos on his personal Facebook account.

He posted a photo of himself posing with the man who carries the so-called “nuclear football” or briefcase that equips the president to authorise a nuclear attack.

This sparked shock reactions from citizens on social media who not only expressed concern about the man being identified but for the wider risks this exposure could mean for the country’s national security.

Associate Professor Tim Lynch, a US politics expert, said the incident displayed a “sloppiness” to Mr Trump’s leadership.

“It’s not like someone who got their hands on the briefcase could launch a nuclear war with an iPhone code, it’s much more elaborate than that,” Professor Lynch said.

“Trump’s part calculated, part blunder. But we can be sure of one thing, everything he does is completely deliberate, nothing is accidental.

“More than anything, this exposes a very immature administration. World leaders don’t make national security strategy around a restaurant table.

“Secrecy is absolutely crucial to the success of a presidency.”

Let’s hope that this gaffe is not a sign of how this administration means to go on!

White House press secretary Sean Spicer struggled to explain President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated wiretapping claim against Barack Obama on Tuesday, all the while gifting the world yet another ‘Trumpism’.

Wiretapping – or should that be “wire tapping”? – now joins “alternative facts”, “the leaks are real, the news is fake”, and “last night in Sweden” on the growing list of perplexing phrases coined by Mr Trump and his inner circle.

It came when Mr Spicer was asked about the President’s explosive claim that he had been wiretapped by his predecessor during the election campaign.

“If you look at the President’s tweet, he said very clearly, quote, ‘wire tapping’ – in quotes,” Mr Spicer told reporters at a press briefing. “The President was very clear in his tweet that it was, you know, ‘wire tapping’ – that spans a whole host of surveillance types of options.”

That is, according to Mr Spicer, Mr Trump saying “wiretapping” did not mean he literally meant wiretapping.

What Donald said about “wire-tapping.” – “Is it legal for a sitting President to be “wire tapping” a race for president prior to an election?! What did he really mean?

What he meant:

He said very clearly, quote, ‘wire tapping’ — end quote … that spans a whole host of surveillance types of options.

Yet despite the constant controversies, a Suffolk University Poll released last week showed the President’s popularity exceeding Hillary Clinton’s for the first time ever, suggesting many Americans aren’t fazed by the criticisms.

Perhaps many Americans remain unfazed by that criticism because it reflects the mindset of those people. When they do realise it, it will be far too late!

University of Melbourne American history lecturer Emma Shortis said while his staunchest supporters would always stand by him, the perception Mr Trump was dishonest would resonate with those Americans still undecided about his presidency.

Mr Trump was trying to create an “atmosphere where nothing is certain” amid constant speculation about his connections to Russia and other scandals.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer struggled to explain President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated wiretapping claim against Barack Obama on Tuesday, all the while gifting the world yet another ‘Trumpism’.

This Is Me

George Brown is a decorated soldier and health professional and 40 year veteran in the field of emergency nursing and paramedical practice, both military and civilian areas. He has senior management positions in the delivery of paramedical services. Opinions expressed in these columns are solely those of the author and should not be construed as being those of any organization to which he may be connected.

He was born in the UK of Scottish ancestry from Aberdeen and a member of the Clan MacDougall. He is a member of the Macedonian community in Newcastle, and speaks fluent Macedonian. While this may seem a contradiction, it is his wife who is Macedonian, and as a result he embraced the Macedonian language and the Orthodox faith.

His interests include aviation and digital photography, and he always enjoys the opportunity to combine the two. Navigate to his Flickr site to see recent additions to his photo library.